


Awakened

by Nami



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Danero Week, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Uncle/Nephew Incest, feed author comments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22136473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nami/pseuds/Nami
Summary: Nero knew Qliphoth kept Dante alive for a month. He just never bothered to think what exactly did that mean.--Written for Danero week prompts: nightmares, Qliphoth
Relationships: Dante/Nero (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 100
Collections: DaNero Week 2020





	Awakened

**Author's Note:**

> I've thought this idea since June last year - it feels so good to finally write it.
> 
> As always, I'll be eternally grateful to [tako](https://twitter.com/moolktea) for correcting mistakes in this fic.

**Awakened**

Nero awoke abruptly, as if someone had punched him. 

In the first moment, he didn’t know what had woken him up. He didn’t feel any other demonic presence than Vergil and Dante, and there was no noise coming from the street. Maybe a car had honked and that had woken him up? Since fully acquiring his demonic powers, the smallest things were enough to put Nero on alert. 

His train of thought was broken when suddenly Dante groaned into his pillow, his back trembling.

“Dante?” Nero sat up, rubbing his eyes. The duvet pooled in his lap when he leaned over his lover.

Dante laid with his back towards Nero, holding the pillow in what looked like a bone-crushing hold. He was furrowing his brow in his sleep and there were droplets of sweat gathering on his forehead. Dante murmured something, too low for Nero to register what it was, but his voice was strained enough to make Nero aware that he wasn’t dreaming about anything nice.

By now, Nero was used to Dante having nightmares – it wasn’t like he himself didn’t have them too. When they started to sleep with each other, they tried to pretend those dreams didn’t exist, none of them willing to burden the other with their problems. It changed after one incident where Dante hadn’t let Nero slip out of the bed and run away after a particularly nasty nightmare about Credo’s death, but instead asked Nero to talk with him. Nero, in turn, answered that he would only talk if Dante talked about his nightmares too and Dante agreed to it.

They spent countless nights laying in each other’s arms and talking about their past experiences, what haunted them, what could have been done better and what wasn’t their fault no matter what they might think. With every talk like that, Nero felt like he understood Dante a little better – and at the same time, he promised himself to never let Dante suffer again. 

The most dangerous part was waking Dante up. It wasn’t as bad as it was in the beginning, when Nero would find himself being stabbed – not like Nero didn’t try to attack Dante when he tried to wake Nero up too – but Nero still had to move slowly and keep his voice low. He had to appear as little of a threat as possible.

“Dante, wake up. It’s only a dream.” Nero put his palm on Dante’s naked shoulder and shook him gently. Dante tensed under his touch, but didn’t do anything else. “Dante, come on.” Another shake of Dante’s shoulder, this time harder.

The breath was knocked out of Nero’s lungs when Dante lunged at him and pinned him to the bed. Nero had to squish the instincts urging him to fight; he didn’t want to attack Dante. He just laid motionlessly under Dante, with Dante’s hand firmly wrapped around his throat and his fingers digging into Nero’s chest, right above his heart. He didn’t apply any pressure though, blinking sleepily at Nero, blue colour slowly taking place of the red hue.

Dante licked his lips, realization slowly creeping into his face. He moved back with a deep, tired sigh and brushed his hair back. His back was still tense.

“... Sorry for that,” he murmured. 

Nero shrugged. There was no point in apologizing for stuff like that. Nero would react the same way to Dante waking him up, and, in the end, they didn’t even spill any blood. 

He sat up too, taking a place behind Dante. Nero leaned his head against Dante’s shoulder, Dante’s hair tickling his forehead.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Hearing that, Dante tensed. It was easier to talk in the night, when they barely saw each other, when it wasn’t difficult to hide their tears, but it didn’t mean they both liked it. At least Nero wasn’t as emotionally stunned as Dante or, as he thought, they would have a lot more problems with communication. He didn’t mind being the one to pry a little, to show Dante that it was okay to talk.

When Dante didn’t answer for a few minutes, Nero sighed, deciding to not back off. Normally, Nero preferred to wait until Dante was ready to talk but he’d been having those nightmares for so long that they were starting to worry Nero.

“You’ve been having nightmares for over two weeks now.” Nero looked up, at Dante’s profile hidden in shadows. “Is it the same thing?”

Slowly, Dante nodded. He entwined his fingers with Nero’s right hand and it filled Nero with warmth.

“... Yeah, it’s the same thing,” Dante finally answered, his voice rough. He still wasn’t looking at Nero, but he squeezed Nero’s hand tighter. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“It’s okay, Vergil is taking tomorrow’s mission, we don’t have to wake up early.”

For some reason, Vergil’s name made Dante tense even more. Nero’s eyebrows raised up in surprise. As far as he knew, nothing bad happened between the twins recently. Vergil had even barely batted an eye when Dante told him he and Nero were a couple.

“Dante, talk to me,” Nero murmured, kissing Dante’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?” 

With a deep sigh, Dante rubbed his face, turning away from Nero. It stung.

“Do you know how I survived after Urizen knocked me down?” Dante’s voice was barely more than a whisper.

“It hid your presence from demons?” That sounded more like a question than an answer. “Trish and V—” Nero’s throat clenched for a second; V was a part of Vergil, so it wasn’t like he had _died,_ but Nero had lost a friend and that still hurt, even months later, “Trish and V said it thought you were similar to Urizen and kept demons away.”

“Yeah, that’s a part of it.” Dante sounded exhausted as if he there was a weight on his shoulders. He even hunched in on himself, his other hand, the one Nero wasn’t holding, was clenched in a fist. When he turned to Nero, his face was ghostly pale and his eyes looked haunted by past terrors. “Did you notice how much stronger I became?”

Nero’s scowled. Dante’s words didn’t make much sense.

“Of course you did, you unlocked your true demon form. That—” Nero stopped, a nagging thought worming its way to his mind. He had noticed Dante’s new strength, of course. Vergil had gotten stronger too; Urizen was a hell of a bitch to fight, especially after a – a month of – 

A sudden realization of why Dante looked so devastated hit Nero like a bullet train. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to find proper words. Dante’s shoulders slumped even more.

“You got it now, right?” 

Wordlessly, Nero nodded. He squeezed Dante’s hand so hard that it must hurt, yet Dante didn’t comment on it. “It fed me human blood just like it did with Urizen.”

“Dante...” Nero didn’t recognize that pain-filled voice as his own.

He reached for Dante, his own heart bleeding, and Dante let Nero tug him close, let Nero wrap his arms around him without a word. His face was tucked against Nero’s throat and Nero felt small tremors in Dante’s body.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Nero stated firmly, rubbing Dante’s back.

He knew how Dante always fought with his demonic side to not give in, how he tried to control himself. He didn’t want to kill people, too afraid of what could happen if he spilled their blood. And he apparently only survived because the Qliphoth pumped him full of it. Nero’s instincts arose in anger; his _mate_ was hurt. All Nero wanted right now was the chance to take on Urizen again.

“I know,” Dante whispered in a tone which told Nero he didn’t believe his words at all. “I didn’t ask to get it. But... I can’t stop dreaming, you know? I see them... usually children... slicing their wrists open and I feed on them their until their bodies collapse. They beg me to stop but I don’t listen, I—”

“Stop it.” Nero hugged Dante tighter, his voice on the verge of begging. Nero loved how close they had become, that Dante was willing to show Nero his weakness, yet this time Nero didn’t know what to say. “It wasn’t your fault.” 

Dante laughed into Nero’s throat humourlessly. 

“It wasn’t but I enjoy its effects. I’m feeling healthier than in years, I could fight everything on my way before gaining the new devil form.” Dante tensed in Nero’s hold, his next words physically hurting Nero, “I sometimes feel like I’m a monster just like Urizen was.”

Dante tried to move away but Nero didn’t let him. They wrestled for a few moments, Dante completely without fire in him. Nero managed to push him down and then quickly pinned Dante’s body with his own, taking Dante’s face into his hands. He wasn’t sure what to say, how to cheer Dante up, but he couldn’t let Dante think he was a monster! 

Dante, with his too-big heart, who others could always rely on, who forgave his brother for things Nero wasn’t sure he would be able to forgive – this Dante was anything but a monster.

“Would you prefer to die?” Nero looked straight into Dante’s eyes, not letting him turn away. Dante’s hands twitched on Nero’s waist, but he stopped struggling for now. “I know you wouldn’t kill all those people to gain power, but look at what you do. You have this power now and you try to help others. A monster, Dante, wouldn’t think about something like that.”

Finally, the tired expression disappeared slightly from Dante’s face. He moved his hands up and brushed Nero’s hair away gently, smiling sadly at him.

“I should have told you about it earlier.”

“Don’t blame yourself, thinking was never your strong point,” Nero risked a joke and sighed quietly with relief when Dante’s lips twitched upward in barely contained smile. “You know you can... we can always... talk if you need it.” Nero flushed under Dante’s gaze. So much for keeping his cool when talking about feelings.

Dante turned his head into Nero’s right palm, kissing it. He closed his eyes and Nero delicately caressed the side of Dante’s face, watching how Dante’s features smoothed out into something more peaceful. They moved again; this time Nero laid on his back, Dante flopped onto Nero’s chest. They had their arms around each other and Dante made a small, content sound when Nero started to brush his hair.

“You’re too good for me,” Dante said, laying a kiss on Nero’s chest, his arms squeezing Nero tight. In the moonlight creeping from between curtains, Dante’s hair looked like liquid silver.

“Maybe you just need what is the best,” Nero huffed and then kissed the top of Dante’s head, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. “Try to get some sleep.”

Dante nodded, rubbing his face against Nero’s skin like a cat before setting down with a sigh. He stopped moving, his breath evening out, but Nero knew he hadn’t fallen asleep yet. It was okay; Nero would hold Dante as much as Dante needed, way past the moment when Dante fell asleep. 

Nero would hold Dante and stay by his side and reassure Dante as many times as needed that it wasn’t Dante fault he was fed human’s blood, that he didn’t have to blame himself for something that was so much out of his control.

Dante wasn’t a monster and Nero would do anything in his power to make him see that.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: apparently it shouldn't be "Sin Devil Trigger" but "True/Perfect Devil Trigger". 
> 
> I wrote this story for Danero Week on twitter. Please check it for more Danero goodies: [click.](https://twitter.com/daneroweek) The week will end on 7th Jananury so you have some time to join and post your works :)
> 
> And here is [my twitter](https://twitter.com/firebyfire) if you want to talk ;)


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